Austin Lee Williamson, born Sept. 11, 2005, was booked at approximately 4:10 p.m. on Sept. 1 under booking number 2026-00006166.

Booking records list two allegations associated with warrant 26CR1348. The first is described as breach of privacy — disseminating sexual media of a person 18 years of age or older, first conviction. The second is listed as criminal threat — causing terror, evacuation or disruption.

The booking report lists a $50,000 bond amount for each allegation, with the bond type shown as C/PS.

The booking information does not provide details about what allegedly occurred, the identity of any alleged victim, or the circumstances leading to the charges.

Williamson is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.

A Topeka-area woman was booked into the Shawnee County jail Sunday on an allegation of battery against a healthcare provider while that provider was on duty.

According to the booking information, Rachel Ann Reed, 43, was booked at 11:55 a.m. on August 31, 2026, on warrant 2026-71846.

The listed offense is “Battery Against a Healthcare Provider, while on duty.” Her bond was listed at $1,000.

The booking report alone does not provide details about the circumstances surrounding the alleged incident, including where it occurred, who the healthcare worker was, whether that person was injured, or what allegedly led to the confrontation.

And Reed, like every person accused of a crime, is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.

But the allegation itself raises a larger issue worth discussing.

The people who care for everyone

There are few professions in our community whose fundamental purpose is as universal as healthcare.

Nurses, physicians, technicians, aides, paramedics and other healthcare workers don’t get to choose only the easy patients.

They care for people who are frightened.

They care for people who are angry.

They care for people experiencing addiction, mental-health crises or the worst moments of their lives.

They care for people with money and people without it. They care for the insured and uninsured, the powerful and the forgotten. They care for people who made good decisions and people living with the consequences of terrible ones.

The emergency room does not ask whether someone deserves compassion before trying to stop the bleeding.

That is precisely why allegations of violence against healthcare workers should trouble us.

Violence cannot become part of the job

Anyone who has spent time around an emergency department knows healthcare isn’t always calm.

Patients can arrive intoxicated, disoriented, terrified, combative or in extraordinary pain. Families may be experiencing one of the worst days they will ever have.

Healthcare professionals understand that.

But understanding why someone is behaving badly cannot mean accepting violence against the people trying to help them.

We should be particularly careful here because we do not know from this booking report what allegedly happened in Reed’s case. A booking entry gives us an accusation and little more. The evidence, circumstances and Reed’s side of the story belong in the judicial process.

The broader principle, however, doesn’t require knowing the outcome of this particular case:

People should be able to go to work at a hospital, clinic, ambulance or other healthcare setting without expecting to be assaulted.

A societal concern bigger than one arrest

Healthcare workers occupy a peculiar place in society. Eventually, almost every one of us will need them.

Maybe it will be after a car accident.

Maybe it will be while sitting beside a sick child at 2 a.m.

Maybe it will be during addiction, psychiatric crisis or homelessness.

Maybe it will simply be at the end of a long life.

At that moment, we expect someone to be there.

We expect the nurse to walk into the room.

We expect the paramedic to kneel beside us.

We expect the aide to help our aging parent.

And we expect them to continue doing those jobs despite seeing humanity at some of its most difficult moments.

There is something particularly disturbing, then, about violence directed toward the very people whose job is to help us when we are at our most vulnerable.

That doesn’t make every allegation true. It doesn’t diminish due process. And it certainly doesn’t justify prejudging the person whose name appears on a booking report.

But presumption of innocence and societal concern can exist at the same time.

Rachel Ann Reed is entitled to the first.

Healthcare workers deserve the second.

This Is Topeka reports arrests and criminal allegations as matters of public record. An arrest or booking is not proof of guilt. All defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.

Jace Russell Cattoor, 20, was booked at approximately 4:35 a.m. on Aug. 30, according to Shawnee County booking information provided to This Is Topeka. The booking lists three allegations:

• Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs
• Purchase, possession or consumption of alcohol by a person between 18 and 20 years old
• Speeding

The booking information indicates Cattoor was arrested on warrant 2026-11679. The listed DUI allegation does not specify the severity, and the underage alcohol allegation is listed as a first conviction offense. The booking record lists no bond on the allegations.

Publicly available booking information also independently shows Cattoor was booked in Shawnee County at 4:35 a.m. Aug. 30 on a DUI allegation.

Cattoor remains on Washburn’s current baseball roster

Cattoor is currently listed on the 2027 Washburn Ichabods baseball roster, making his connection to the university current rather than simply that of a former player.

Washburn Athletics lists Cattoor as a junior utility player, wearing No. 46. He is listed at 5-foot-11 and 190 pounds and is originally from Arvada, Colorado, where he attended Ralston Valley High School.

According to his official Washburn biography, Cattoor redshirted during the 2025 season and did not appear in a game during the 2026 season. He was nevertheless named to the MIAA Academic Honor Roll in both 2025 and 2026 and is majoring in accounting.

Washburn separately announced in June that Cattoor was among 14 members of the Ichabod baseball program named to the 2026 MIAA Academic Honor Roll.

Charges remain allegations

The arrest comes before the beginning of Washburn’s 2027 baseball season. As of Sunday morning, Cattoor continued to appear on the university’s official roster.

An arrest or booking is not a finding of guilt. The allegations against Cattoor will be subject to the court process, and he is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

This Is Topeka will update this story if additional court records become available or Washburn University announces any change to Cattoor’s status with the baseball program.

Officers were called to the area of SE 6th Avenue and Branner Street at approximately 10 p.m. Sunday, August 30, following a report of a vehicle striking a pedestrian.

When officers arrived, they found the pedestrian, who was pronounced dead at the scene.

According to police, investigators believe the pedestrian was struck by a black passenger car. The driver allegedly left the scene following the collision.

The victim’s identity had not been publicly released as of the latest update.

The Topeka Police Department’s Accident Reconstruction Unit is investigating the fatal crash as officers work to identify the vehicle and driver involved.

Police are asking anyone who witnessed the collision or who may have information about the vehicle or driver to contact authorities.

The incident occurred along SE 6th Avenue, a major east-west corridor through Topeka, near its intersection with Branner Street.

No arrest had been announced as of Monday morning.

This Is Topeka will update this story as police release additional information about the victim, suspect vehicle or investigation.

This is a developing story.

Erwin Tyrone Lockridge Jr. was booked into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections at 1:50 a.m. Saturday, August 29, jail records show.

Lockridge was booked on a warrant alleging intentional and premeditated first-degree murder and criminal discharge of a firearm at an occupied dwelling. Both allegations are associated with warrant number 2026-69184 and carry a listed $1.5 million bond.

The arrest represents a major development in a homicide investigation that began less than a week earlier.

18-year-old found dead on SE 23rd

Topeka Police were called shortly after 12:05 a.m. Sunday, August 23, to the 2300 block of SE 23rd Street following a report of a shooting.

Officers found Stockman unresponsive at the scene. He was pronounced dead, and police subsequently identified the 18-year-old as the victim. Authorities began investigating his death as a homicide.

Police announced Lockridge’s arrest six days later.

Booking record reveals additional allegations

Lockridge’s latest booking also includes a second warrant, 2026-69124, carrying a listed $75,000 bond.

That warrant includes allegations of:

• criminal discharge of a firearm at an occupied dwelling;
• felony criminal damage to property;
• aggravated endangering a child involving a child under 18; and
• aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

The booking record does not, by itself, establish whether the allegations under the second warrant stem from the Stockman homicide or a separate incident. That distinction will likely become clearer as court records and charging documents become available.

Lockridge remains presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.

The combination of the murder allegation and the separate warrant also raises additional questions about the circumstances surrounding Lockridge’s arrest and whether investigators are examining other alleged incidents involving gunfire.

This Is Topeka will continue following the case as additional court filings and information from investigators become available.

Dolly Parton belonged to all of us.

Parton, the unmistakable voice behind “Jolene,” “9 to 5” and “I Will Always Love You,” died Tuesday at the age of 80, closing an extraordinary life that carried her from a one-room cabin in the mountains of Tennessee to stages around the world.

She became one of the greatest songwriters country music has ever produced. But somewhere along the way, Dolly became something bigger than country music.

She became part of America.

There was the hair, the rhinestones and that wonderfully self-aware sense of humor. Dolly could tell the joke before anyone else had the chance—and usually tell it better.

Behind all of it, though, was an uncommon generosity.

Her Imagination Library, inspired in part by her father’s inability to read and write, grew from a small Tennessee literacy program into an international effort that has put hundreds of millions of books into the hands of children.

It was quintessentially Dolly: enormously ambitious and remarkably simple.

Give kids books. Give people a chance. Be kind.

She spent decades singing about heartbreak, poverty, working women, love and the complicated lives of ordinary people because those were lives she understood. Fame never seemed to erase the little girl who grew up as one of 12 children in the Smoky Mountains.

Perhaps that’s why losing Dolly feels different.

For all the division of modern American life, Dolly Parton remained one of the increasingly rare people nearly everyone seemed happy to claim as their own. Country fans loved her. Pop fans loved her. Grandparents loved her. Their grandchildren did, too.

She somehow managed to become larger than life without ever seeming above anyone.

The rhinestones will remain in museums. The songs will play for generations. Somewhere tonight, someone will hear Whitney Houston sing “I Will Always Love You” and perhaps remember that those extraordinary words began with a young songwriter from Tennessee named Dolly Parton.

And somewhere else, a child will open a book that arrived at their home because Dolly believed that child deserved one.

For a woman who spent a lifetime writing unforgettable endings, perhaps that’s the most fitting one.

Goodbye, Dolly.

And thank you for leaving the world a little kinder than you found it.

According to Shawnee County booking information, Clay Michael Elerlage, 29, was booked at approximately 10:50 a.m. Monday, Aug. 24.

The booking record lists a warrant associated with case 26CR1631 and describes the alleged offense as “sexual exploitation of a child; possess media of child <18.”

Elerlage was being held on a $1 million bond, according to the booking record. No release date was listed at the time the record was reviewed.

The booking entry does not provide details regarding what investigators allegedly discovered, how many files or devices may be involved, or what investigation led authorities to Elerlage.

Another Child Exploitation Arrest in Topeka

The arrest comes amid a noticeable series of child-exploitation and child sexual abuse material cases investigated or prosecuted in the Topeka area during 2026.

One of the cases previously followed by This Is Topeka involves Devin King, who recently pleaded guilty to nine counts of sexual exploitation of a child.

King’s case and the latest arrest involve allegations under the same general category of Kansas child-exploitation offenses, although the circumstances and evidence in each case are separate.

The number of cases surfacing locally this year has increasingly put a spotlight on investigations involving digital devices and illegal sexual images of children.

Elerlage’s unusually high $1 million bond also stands out. However, a bond amount by itself does not establish guilt or indicate precisely what evidence prosecutors intend to present.

Additional information about the allegations against Elerlage is expected to become clearer as court records in 26CR1631 become available.

This Is Topeka will continue reviewing the case and will update this report if charging documents, an affidavit, or additional information from law enforcement becomes publicly available.

Elerlage is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.

According to information released by the Topeka Police Department, officers were called to the 2300 block of SE 23rd Street shortly after 12:05 a.m. Sunday, August 23, on a report of a shooting.

When officers arrived, they located a victim who was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police have not publicly identified the victim, and no suspect or arrest had been announced in connection with the shooting as of the latest available information.

The circumstances leading up to the shooting also remain unclear.

The case is being investigated as a homicide, and additional information is expected as detectives continue their investigation.

Anyone with information related to the case can contact the Topeka Police Department or Shawnee County Crime Stoppers.

This Is Topeka will update this story as additional information, including the victim’s identity or information about a possible suspect, is released.

Angelene Price Kirby, born June 19, 1993, was booked on Aug. 21, 2026, under booking number 2026-00005872.

Booking records list a warrant, 2026-68437, with the offense described as “Prostitution: Sexual Intercourse.” Bond on that warrant was set at $10,000, according to the booking report.

Kirby was also booked on Topeka bench warrants, listed under warrant number MC26-1877. Bond associated with those warrants was set at $2,485.

The booking record lists the arresting agency as KS0890100.

Kirby is scheduled to appear in court on the prostitution case on Nov. 5, 2026, at 1:30 p.m.

The booking report does not provide additional details regarding the circumstances leading to the prostitution allegation or when the alleged offense occurred.

The charges and allegations contained in jail and court records are accusations. Kirby is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.

 Cox Communications trucks in Kansas will soon be sporting Spectrum branding after Charter Communications purchased the company. (Photo by Charter Communications)

TOPEKA — Charter Communications finalized its $34.5 billion deal to acquire Cox Communications on Thursday, and Kansans will soon see their Cox products marketed under Charter’s Spectrum brand. 

Along with its Cox transaction, Charter announced completion of its purchase of Liberty Broadband Corp. 

Now the largest cable company in the country, with services across 45 states, Charter will rebrand Cox services to the Spectrum name, said Chris Winfrey, CEO and president of the Connecticut-based company, in a media call. 

Winfrey said he expects frontline employees to see few changes. There are more than 1,000 Cox employees in Kansas. 

“The thing I want to make really clear is that from a frontline employee perspective, which is probably 90% of what each of these two companies have, there’ll be very little change, and we’re actually out hiring additional people today for sales positions,” he said. 

Charter plans to move all customer service to the United States, which is a “job creation opportunity,” Winfrey said.

The company will be hiring for 1,000 new sales positions, said spokeswoman Christine Martini in an email. The company’s new release said all employees would be paid a minimum of $20 an hour.

Cox’s Atlanta headquarters office will see some reorganization, Winfrey said, but part of the acquisition negotiations included maintaining a “significant presence” in the city. 

“Across many of our locations, the composition of the different types of employees is going to change to optimize for the footprint that we have and the talent that we have,” Winfrey said. “There’ll be certain functions that come out of Atlanta, and there’s certain functions that are already being moved into Atlanta.”

Charter’s southeast region is being moved to the Atlanta headquarter campus, Winfrey said. 

Cox customers will see the brand name shift to Spectrum beginning in September, which includes changing all building and truck signage.

However, cost changes will occur immediately, Winfrey said. Internet pricing will be “better” and new Cox Mobile customers can receive a free mobile line for a year, he said. 

“The value is higher for Spectrum products with more apps included, often better internet pricing,” Winfrey said. “The average pricing of internet is much lower with Spectrum, and mobile is lower, and video is also lower, but also has more value with the app.”

Winfrey said no Cox customers will be forced to switch but can elect to do so once Spectrum pricing and packages are launched in mid-September. 

Charter is a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange. Cox Communications was a privately held company.